Brief Intro
This crowdfunding initiative is being done by me and like-minded friends and enthusiasts who are raising funds for the second Chennai Photo Biennale organized by CPB Foundation and Goethe-Institut Chennai . This event is committed to putting India and Chennai on the global photography map.
These funds are required to execute the CPB event. The event is scheduled for the FEB 22- MAR 24,2019 period and will be a massive 30 day extravaganza that India and Chennai has never seen before.
This event is a massive 30-day celebration of photography. It is being done to celebrate and promote photography to the common man in India and Chennai. Where better to have a photography and art festival in India other than Chennai? Chennai represents India which has been a hotbed of so many kingdoms and dynasties. The city has variety, culture, art, festivals, language and myriad architecture in its very DNA. Here you can see the coexistence of tradition and modern life.
Be it ancient temples, or rock carvings of Mahabalipuram, traditional markets, beaches, IT Parks or the heritage buildings of the British Raj, you will find it all here. The sheer variety and contrast is what makes it exciting, inimitable and unique as a city to visit. Add to the mix, a large-scale photography event that will span train stations, parks and historical buildings and we will be set to attract thousands of art-lovers from across the world.
What's On In 2019
CPB 2019 will be even more ambitious than the first edition. With more than 18 months of planning under the belt, the core team is poised to make history with a grand spectacle the likes of which India has never seen before. Visitors will experience thought-provoking installations, interactive artworks, large-format exhibitions and will be able to participate in lectures and discussions surrounding photography. This year the focus is heavily on growing the educational program by working with school children and college students, with a goal to mentor 600+ students in the Oct - Dec 2018 period.
HELP ME RAISE INR 50000 AND HELP FUND THIS UNIQUE EVENT THAT WILL PUT INDIA AND CHENNAI ON THE WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY MAP.
About Me And This Campaign
Hi, my name is Varun Gupta and I am a Chennai based photographer, co-founder and Director of Chennai Photo Biennale and a digital marketing strategist. Those of you that know me, know that i am deeply passionate about photography and public art.
I started my career as a photographer in 2007 and I was lucky in those early days to be given a break by Apparao galleries. I will never forget that feeling of seeing my prints fill up the walls of the gallery and visitors appreciating my photographs. As I continued to exhibit around the country and spent more time sitting around in galleries, I began observing the types of people who came through. One thing became clear, the gallery attracted a very select audience of art lovers and the man on the street would very rarely have the chance to engage with photographic art.
In 2012, Art Chennai gave me the opportunity to orchestrate one of the first ever large format photography exhibitions in a train station in India in partnership with the Goethe-Institut. We exhibited over 13,000 sq ft of photographic prints across the gigantic Thiruvanmiyur MRTS station, with 160 participating photographers from Chennai. This was a turning point for me, to watch commuters stop in their tracks and enjoy the maze of photographs on the platform, sparked a shift in my mind. I knew then, that in order for the appreciation of photography to grow in India, one has to take the art form to public spaces and start from the grassroots.
What started as the first discussion with Helmut Schippert (GI Chennai Director) in 2015, became the moment of genesis for Chennai Photo Biennale. We started CPB with the purpose of nurturing the photography community in India by creating a space for us photographers to meet, discuss and celebrate our medium. The rest, as they say, is history, with the support of the Goethe-Institut, many close friends and fellow photographers in Chennai, and the artistic community at large, we held a truly memorable first edition.
Chennai is my adopted home for the last 12 years, and I have grown to love its rhythm, colour and warm people. As a citizen, I think it is up to each of us to do our part in shaping the future of our cities and country. Today, I am raising INR 50,000 to help the initiative get to their overall goal of raising INR 3Crores and creating a world-class spectacle. Chennai is already known for being a hub for traditional dance and music, its time to add a contemporary flavour to the mix. The Chennai Photo Biennale will impact the citizens of Chennai and shift their attitudes towards art and culture and encourage more people to embrace photography.
Over a period of time, it will definitely grow into a movement that will impact those in the south, then in India. Please do fund this campaign and lets together put India and Chennai on the world photography map.
Discovering Chennai Through CPB
Visitors to Chennai in Feb 2019 will be treated to world-class exhibitions in some of the most beautiful spaces that Chennai has to offer. Some of our most exciting venues are:
University of Madras, Senate House: Established in 1857, UOM is one of the oldest and premier universities in India. The Senate building is considered to be one of the best and oldest examples of Indo-Saracenic architecture in India. Visitors will experience thought-provoking installations, intermingling with the incredible architecture of the space. Team CPB considers this venue one of the stars of the Biennale!
Started in 1851, Egmore Museum is the second oldest museum in India after the Indian Museum in Kolkata. The museum will be a venue for a seminar as well as an exhibition.
The Government College of Fine Arts (initially known as the Madras School of Art) in Chennai is the oldest art institution in India established in 1850. The college will be opening doors for visitors to experience photography exhibitions in its newly constructed galleries and museum.
CBP 2019 - Artistic Director Pushpamala N
Born in Bangalore, 1956, Pushpamala N has been called “the most entertaining artist-iconoclast of contemporary Indian art”. In her sharp and witty work as a photo- and video-performance artist, sculptor, writer, curator and provocateur, and in her collaborations with writers, theatre directors and filmmakers, she seeks to subvert the dominant cultural and intellectual discourse. She is known for her strongly feminist work and for her rejection of authenticity and embracing of multiple realities. As one of the pioneers of conceptual art in India and a leading figure in the feminist experiments in subject, material and language, her inventive work in sculpture, conceptual photography, video and performance have had a deep influence on art practice in India. http://www.pushpamala.com/
India is unique because of the coexistence of the ancient and indigenous with the modern and contemporary. This opens up an unbelievable panorama of subjects that fuels passion and creativity in the minds of a photographer who would love to capture this transition.
The Impact
The first edition of CPB was held from Feb 26 to Mar 13 2016 and was spread across 19 venues that saw more than 1,00,000 viewers. Over three weeks the event touched the lives of hundreds of people ranging from carpenters, printers, framers, electricians, auto and taxi drivers, and even coconut vendors.
The event attracted celebrated photographers such as Philip Blenkinsop (Noor), Walter Astrada (World Press Photo winner), Raghu Rai (Magnum), Pablo Bartholomew (World Press Photo Winner) and Denis Dailleux (AgencyVU) to address packed halls of art lovers in Chennai.
The 2nd edition will grow on this success and will make Chennai Photo Biennale the biggest photography event in Asia. This will put us on the world map and grow the appreciation of photography both as an art-form and as a means of livelihood. Over the course of the next several editions, CPB will create a positive impact on tourism, hospitality and dining, transport & allied industries and make Chennai a hub for the photography.
Images From The 2016 Event
Pic: Nageshwara Rao Park, Mylapore
Pic : Lighthouse Train station
Pic :Delhi Photo Festival - Lalit Kala Akademi
CBP 2019 - Funding needs and how you can help
Your support means a lot to us. Getting the citizens of India engaged in this unique event is the key objective and crowdfunding is a critical part of the entire fundraising. The smallest amount you contribute will help them on their journey to change perceptions about photography and put this event on the world map.
We need to raise funds for:-
Exhibition
CPB Education Program 2018-2019
Biennale Team and Artist Support
Marketing, PR, Travel and Logistics
The estimated costs for CPB 2019 are upwards of INR 3 Crores.
The closer we are able to reach our goal through this crowd-funding exercise, the more we can focus on quality of presentation, content and our education programs. Therefore, we request you to please donate very generously.
The CPB Foundation
The CPB Foundation is a non-profit foundation established to promote the medium of photography through various initiatives, the primary being the Chennai Photo Biennale. The CPB foundation is a trust registered under the Indian Trusts Act of 1882. They are currently in the process of getting 80G approval.
Receipts
By funding this campaign, you will get a receipt from the CPB Foundation. They have applied for the 80G certification and expect to get it by DEC 2018. You can only then avail of benefits under section 80G of the IT act. 80G rebates are subject to application approval. Funding from those with Indian accounts is accepted. If you are an Indian living abroad or a person holding an Indian passport you can EASILY fund this campaign.
FAQs
Will we get to know details of how the funds are being used ?
Yes. The team at CPB has committed to giving us updates every 180 days on the progress they are making & how the funds are being used. Once I get this information from them, I shall upload this on the UPDATES section of this campaign. You will then get an alert & can read details about how the funds have been utilised.
What are the crowdfunding charges ?
Fueladream charges 10% as crowdfunding charges. There is a payment gateway fee of 2% (for both the Indian and foreign gateway) plus a GST component of 2.16%. This adds up to 14.16%. There is also an initial fee of 3000 INR which is being waived for us.
When do I get the receipts?
By funding this campaign, you will get a receipt from the CPB Foundation. They have applied for the 80G certification and ​they ​expect to get it by DEC 2018. You can only then avail of benefits under section 80G of the IT act. 80G rebates are subject to application approval.
How does crowdfunding work?
Crowdfunding in India is a relatively new concept & is growing very quickly. It’s a concept that allows a large number of funders (like you) to fund an Idea or a cause or event by giving small amounts of money online. Fueladream.com is a crowdfunding platform in India that allows for such a pooling of funds. You can fund innovations & ideas on FuelADream and be the first to get these products or make them come true. You can also do a good turn by funding charities and causes. When you fund a charity it’s more like a donation & you get small innovative rewards like a shout-out on an FB page or a thank you email from the beneficiaries.
